


Set Us Free

by GalaxyFoxy



Series: Set Us Free (BatIM AU) [1]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gen, Henry Stein Saves Everyone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2019-10-10 01:11:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 13,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17416124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyFoxy/pseuds/GalaxyFoxy
Summary: Thirty years is a long time. After being asked back to his old stomping grounds by his former employer, Henry Stein is forced into a living nightmare where he has to survive monsters around every corner. But... are they really monsters? Or is it the man that he had trusted for years?Henry Saves Everyone AU





	1. Knockin' At Your Door

**Author's Note:**

> If it feels like I'm skipping important story beats, such as tasks, it's because, if you've played the game and/or watched someone play the game, I'm really not skipping over much, just Henry silently completing tasks. As this particular story progresses, I'm going to follow the game's canon story line less and less.
> 
> I'd rather exposition my own thoughts on what could have been going through Henry's head as he completed the tasks, rather than saying "Henry silently made his way through the studio, completing his tasks."
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys! Please note that I am not writing this to reflect historical accuracy; as it is not imperative to the plot of this story. I don’t want to enable no anonymous comments or comment moderation, so please be respectful.

_Alright Joey, let's see what you're hiding..._

Henry approached the now defunct building that was once his workplace. It was hard to believe that this place had once been home to one of the largest animation franchises known. There was nothing in its place now. No noise, no cars, no workers. Nothing. Just a run down looking animation studio.

He took the step inside, finding it was practically untouched. It was like walking into a time capsule, just with a thin layer of dust. There had even been a projector running, though only the audio seemed to be playing. Perhaps there had been squatters; it was the only logical explanation. Someone looking for things to loot or to add to their collection.

A simple flick of a switch and the projector shut off, leaving the studio in silence now. Henry felt safer with the silence. His footsteps echoed through the halls, though the faint noise of more music caught the brunet's attention. Most of the doors were locked, even the one that the music had been coming from. Whoever was inside either couldn't hear him playing with the door handle or they simply didn't care. Though, the locked doors seemed to lead him in one direction. A couple of dry cells were needed to activate the lift and he soon saw it...

The ink machine...

What purpose could this thing possibly have? Ink wasn't particularly expensive, so it wasn't needed to  _make_ ink; though it didn't look like it was intended to make ink. It made something... but Henry really didn't want to think of the real reason why.

This couldn't have been what Joey wanted Henry to see. After all, there had been a similar machine in Joey's house. He knew that that particular machine had been being used to make forms to make stuffed animals.

That machine was the reason why Henry wound up leaving the studio. He was the one who had come up with the idea of Bendy. The character was almost like a child to him, one of his favorite creations. He wouldn't have minded so much if that machine had just been used for forms or sculptures.

The one day, Henry had been working at his desk. He could hear Sammy down the hall, strumming out a tune on the banjo to score a new animation. Every so often, he'd also also hear the equipment clicking together from Norman moving his projector from one location to another. The sounds of the studio were oddly relaxing for him.

A tug on his shirt caught his attention. He turned, expecting to see Joey, but upon seeing a fully formed Bendy, he panicked. An argument between himself and Joey ensued. Bendy was  _his_ creation;  _his_ child. Joey hadn't consulted him on anything other than toys and animations. There was no humanly possible way for Bendy to exist. Henry couldn't condone whatever Joey was doing. Henry finished out his day, finding himself growing attached to the little devil. Unfortunately, he just couldn't return.

At least, not until now. Henry's mind reeled as he collected seemingly unconnected items to power the machine. What he did know was from a recording of the young janitor that worked there, Wally Franks. He wondered about Bendy and his coworkers. Sammy had been a young man with a promising future in music. Norman was probably the one that would've had the hardest time finding a new job.

Hearing his coworkers' voices on the tape recordings was like opening a floodgate of memories. It was hard to focus.  _Just start the machine, Henry_ , he refocused himself,  _This isn't what Joey wanted me to find._

Flipping the switch, the ink machine groaned to life. The pipes creaked as thick ink forced through them. Henry made his way back to the machine, only to find the doorway boarded up. That definitely hadn't been like that before. Whoever was in here with him must've been marking where they'd been. There was an opening just enough for Henry to climb through, though.

He approached, though a feeling in stomach begged for him to just leave. His hand trembled as he reached out to the boards.

A loud, hiss-like scream startled the brunet and a familiar gloved hand shot out to grab him. He fell back, only able to look at the new twisted form of his own creation.

"Bendy?!"

The monster seemed to react to that, disappearing back down into the ink. Pipes started to burst and the studio began flooding; fueling Henry's only thought to escape. He rushed through the halls, metal barricades pushing him closer and closer on track. The exit was in sight.

It was no use, though. The already weak floorboards gave out from beneath Henry. He fell...

He could only thank God that the ink was just thick enough to slow his fall. If it hadn't, the broken planks below him probably would have done him in. Just how far down did he fall? It was hard to tell.

As he pressed onward, draining the ink and trying to find a new exit, Henry's mind reeled. What happened to his little buddy? What had happened to Boris? He really didn't know how to process what he had previously seen. There was so much more to Joey's story than what he was letting on.

Most importantly, Henry hoped to God that what happened to Boris wasn't Bendy. That wasn't anything like how he had intended the character to be. Bendy was a trickster, not a demon... Rather, he  _was_ a demon, but not one of those monsters from theology.

Busting down yet another barricaded door, the sight before him made him change his tune. Maybe Bendy  _was_ the monster in everything. Some sort of Satanic circle was painted on the floor; three coffins sitting behind it. This hadn't felt right.

Henry took a few steps forward. A sharp pain shot through his head; visions flashing before him. Nothing seemed to connect; all Henry could feel was fear and pain. He wound up passing out from the pain.

For a brief moment, Henry regained consciousness. The room was dark, save for the faint flicker of candlelight illuminating the coffins, A familiar grin slowly emerged from the shadows. Bendy looked around before focusing on Henry.

"Set us free..."

And soon the blackness returned...


	2. Social Know-How

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry just wants to get out. A monster with a cool hat is kind of standing in the way, though.

Henry's vision started to blur into focus. His ears were ringing.

"Oh... my head..."

Once he'd felt a bit more stable, Henry pushed himself to his feet and collected his axe. He faintly remembered the moment with Bendy. He only brushed it off as some sort of dream or dazed hallucination. How could he set anyone free? He didn't even know what was going on!

Another barricade down and he let out a breath, "When did this place get so big?"

A shrine was the immediate thing that caught his eye. It appeared to be for Bendy. He lightly traced his fingers along the strings of the banjo that sat at the shrine, the feeling of the strings leaving a small tingle on the tips of his fingers. It looked a lot like Sammy's. There was no way he would've left that when the studio closed; only if it was an absolute emergency that they had to leave. Even then, it was a strong only if.

Just around the corner was a recording of Sammy, though his tone seemed different. Just from his voice alone, he knew something was wrong.

Henry knew Sammy as a bit more high strung and foul mooded. He hated being interrupted. If the music wasn't perfect, it  _had_ to be redone. Although, he did have a soft spot for two people; voice actress Susie Campbell and a storyboard artists named Riley Hackett. It really wasn't a secret that Sammy had feelings for Susie. As for Riley, it was hard to tell if he enjoyed having the boy look up to him or if he enjoyed the fact that Riley was the only person there who never spoke.

"I said,  _can I get an amen?_ "

The closeness of the oddly calming voice started him and he frantically started looking around. There was nobody there, though...

All he could do was press on. What else could be done? He was even seeing figures now. The voice echoed softly in the walls, "In the morning, you may wake. Or in the morning, you'll be dead." Something wasn't right; that figure had to have been a hallucination. He tightened the grip on his axe after flipping yet another switch to raise  _yet another_ barricade. Something wasn't meant to leave here.

He stepped into the Music Department, darkened and cold. Henry went to find another exit, though it was flooded.  _Another_ switch and the department came to life, yet the silence was unnerving. No music came from the speakers, just faint pings from the pipes.

Henry noticed another tape recorder and approached. A thick gob of ink fell from the ceiling, though he thought nothing of it. A creature sprung up from the blob, causing Henry's instinct to kick in and he brought the axe down on the vaguely human shape. It only caused more creatures to show up. While he was able to make quick work of them, Henry couldn't help but feel bad. Despite their uncanny valley looks, they were still human looking. Who knew what Joey had done after he'd gone?

A nearby record player eased to life, music starting to play a familiar, upbeat tune. Henry recognized it from one of the last animations he had ever worked on. It was the score that Sammy had been most proud of.

Henry played the tape, hearing the more familiar aggravated Sammy Lawrence speaking ill of Joey's decisions. At least now he knew where to go. Just to make a quick stop, he made his way to the recording studio. The only thing of any importance was a recording from Susie.

More thoughts passed through Henry's head as he made his way through the halls. He tried imagining what the studio must've been like when it was still active after he left. People bustling about from place to place, the music pouring out from the recording studio, the quiet clicks of the projectors running... It had to have been amazing.

Imagining the studio in its former glory really helped pass the time and make the monotony of looking for drain valves less boring. Each door stirred a new idea. Story artist room? How long did the artists spend their time in there? Did they ever stop to admire the music playing? And the projectionist booth! Outside of Norman's recording talking of Sammy's peculiarities, what did he do when that wasn't happening? Henry really hadn't gotten to know the older man as well as he had now wished he had.

As he made his way to the infirmary, another thought crossed his mind. Why did the  _animation studio_ need an infirmary? Unless there was something that had happened with Bendy or those ink creatures. He hoped people got out in time.

"The valve's missing... who'd take a valve?"

It made no sense, but nothing made any sense right now. There was only one way to go... the sewers. He reluctantly headed down, stopping in his tracks when he saw the writing on the wall.

"Down here, we're all sinners..." The words didn't even feel natural as they escaped Henry's lips.

He glanced about, a silhouette catching his eye. It looked like Bendy. Carefully, Henry laced his fingers through the chain link fence. He spoke quietly, "Bendy... Little buddy. It's me. Henry."

There was no response.

"I want to help you, but I can't until I know what's going on."

Still no response. Henry drew a breath, holding back a gag. The smell was starting to get to him.

"If you want to help me, I'm sure you have ways of finding me."

He left the silhouette to get the valve. Another one of those ink creatures was sitting behind a boarded up tunnel. It wore a hat and didn't bother attacking. It retreated back whenever Henry got too close.

Henry didn't want to hurt this one. It didn't seem to want to hurt him. Perhaps it just wanted to be left alone. There had been another room just before this lift area; maybe he could offer a trade.

He made his way back to that room. He'd missed the tape before. He listened while he looked for something. It wasn't a voice he recognized, though he didn't mind. It was interesting hearing the thoughts of the workers after he'd left. There wasn't much in the lyricist's room, just a cup and a violin. At least the thing could preoccupy itself with trying to play the instrument.

Wading back with violin in hand, Henry eyed the hat wearing creature.

"Hey, I've got something for you."

It watched him, featureless face focused on the violin. Henry smirked, "I'll trade you for it. You can have this and I'll take that valve wheel."

He hoped that  _thing_ knew what he was saying. It approached cautiously, groaning as it moved, like it was trying to respond. Henry held the violin up out of reach, "Valve first. Then you can have it."

The searcher looked at the wheel in its hand for a moment. It held it out and Henry took it. When the valve was out of reach, he handed over the violin. The searcher took it and quickly escaped to the other side of the room. Henry hung around for a moment to watch the ink monster attempt to pluck a couple of strings. He chuckled and called back as he left, "Nice hat, by the way!"

Now that had felt better. Henry really didn't like having to hurt or kill things. Hell, whenever a spider would get into his house, he'd trap it and release it in the forest behind his house. It did make him wonder how he came up with a little demon character.

No matter, Bendy was supposed to be a good character. Something had to have happened. He wanted to give Bendy the benefit of the doubt. He needed to. All he could do was hope Bendy would try to talk to him before anyone got hurt.


	3. What's The Buzz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain masked man enters the fray. Can Henry reason with a madman?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess the reference of this chapter title and I will love you. <3
> 
> There's some religious speak in this, for those who are uncomfortable with that type of thing. I also use a passage from Mathew 5-7 in the completely wrong context, but that particular passage is the only one I know, so I do apologize for that.

Henry made his way towards the exit once more. He hoped that he'd see Bendy before he left. He hadn't lied when he said he couldn't help without the full story. Just because he saved that searcher, it doesn't mean all of the monsters in this building were docile. He needed to know both sides of the story.

A sharp pain shot from the back of his head; the sound of vibrating metal the only thing that could be heard. He collapsed to the ground, making a weak attempt to roll over to see who... or what... had hit him.

" _Rest your head... It's time for bed._ "

And consciousness was lost...

"There we go... nice and tight. We wouldn't want our sheep running away now, would we? No... we wouldn't."

Henry opened his eyes, focusing on the roughly six foot tall figure before him.

"Sammy?" his voice was weak. He'd recognized the man's voice. Either Sammy didn't hear him or simply ignored him.

"I must admit, I am...  _honored_ you came all the way down here to visit me. It almost makes what I'm about to do seem cruel."

Sammy slowly walked over to a support beam, resting the axe in his hands on it. When his back had been turned, it had clicked with Henry, "It was you in the sewer. Sammy, what happened?"

Although he seemed to react to being recognized, Sammy didn't grace Henry with a response. After all, he was nothing more than a lost little sheep and Sammy? Sammy was a prophet of the Lord.

"The believers must honor their Savior. I must have Him notice me."

"Who is he? Sammy, man, c'mon, it's me! It's Henry Stein!"

"Wait..." Sammy got in Henry's face. It caused the other to flinch back slightly. The Bendy mask taking up his entire vision just felt awkward. "You look familiar to me... That Face..."

"Yes... yes! We used to work together! Remember? I was the animator for the cartoons you scored!"

Sammy growled softly, stepping away from Henry. Conflict ran through his mind. The name and face were familiar. There had been a few problems, though...

He didn't know if those memories were even real, at this point. He'd been trapped in this inky prison for so long, it was hard to say if the memories of being human were real. Every time he'd died, he came back. Humans didn't do that. Ink monsters did that. But... why else would he have those memories, though?

The other issue? Henry was the creator.  _The creator lied_. Lord Bendy didn't like the creator. In turn, why would Sammy?

"Sammy, please... let me help you."

"No," the voice was firm, "Not now. For our Lord is calling to us, my little sheep. The time of sacrifice is at hand!"

" _Sacrifice?!_ Oh no... no, no, no, Sammy please! Think about this!"

Henry had to think fast. Sammy was speaking of Lords and someone he simply referred to as 'He.' He tried something, hoping it would work.

"But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all; either by Heaven, for it is God's throne, or by the Earth, for it is His footstool. Or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

Sammy froze up for a moment and clenched his fist; a shred of his former self shining through. Henry never took Sammy as an openly religious man, but perhaps being trapped in the studio for so long made him change his tune. He whipped around, getting in Henry's face once more.

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves," his voice had been vicious. He continued, though not with any religious passage, "I will finally be freed from this...  _prison_... this inky  _dark_ abyss I call a body..."

He gestured to his own body. Sammy's voice had calmed a bit, much to Henry's relief. OK... so either he recalled a passage Sammy didn't agree with or the 'He' that he was referring to wasn't God. Henry tried recalling recordings now. Then, it clicked.

"It's Bendy, isn't it? Sammy, I can help. I-I just need to talk to him! Find out what Joey did! Please, sacrifice isn't going to help."

"Shh..." Sammy drew his finger to the cut out mouth of his mask, "Quiet! Listen!"

The ink man quickly swung his hand around, tips of his fingers connecting with Henry's face. This had startled him, though he assumed that Sammy had accidentally slapped him.

"I can hear him. Crawling above...  _Crawling!_ " The joy in Sammy's voice made Henry's skin crawl. Whatever happened in the studio caused Sammy to completely snap.

"Let us begin. The ritual must be completed! Soon he will hear me... He will set us  _free._ "

Sammy made his way to an open room. Henry struggled against his binds, pleading with his former coworker, "No... No! Sammy please! This isn't you! Let me help you!"

The door shut, leaving Henry alone and panicking.

" _Sheep, sheep, sheep, it's time for sleep. Rest your head, it's time for bed. In the morning, you may wake... Or in the morning, you'll be dead..._ "

The room began to shake as Sammy's ritual continued, "Hear me, Bendy! Arise from the darkness and take my offering! Free me! I beg you! I summon you, Ink Demon! Show your face and take this tender sheep!"

The metal barricade across the room opened. Although Henry didn't see Bendy, he tried reasoning with the demon.

"Don't do this, Bendy! I know you're better than this!"

"No! M-my Lord! Stay back!" Sammy had sounded panicked now, "I am your prophet! I am your-"

A scream sounded... and then nothing. The room filled with shadows. Henry fell free from his binds. He quickly scrambled to his feet, grabbed the axe, and started forcing his way through the fallen boards. He tried merely pushing back the misshapen ink monsters, but it was little use. Even the slightest bit of too much force caused them to collapse back into puddles.

After getting some distance away, the shadows seemed to stop following him. He took a breath, though his heart ached. He couldn't save Sammy; the man had been beyond reason. Bendy's actions hurt the most, though.

That wasn't how he designed the character to be like. He was supposed to be a trickster, getting into usual cartoon hijinks to achieve some sort of goal. In Bendy's case, it mainly didn't work.

Henry had signed over the rights to Bendy and the others to Joey when he had left, though. Joey seemed to be well intentioned enough, even if he was trying to create  _living_ forms of the characters. Bendy didn't seem to mind being alive; going about his day, pulling little pranks or just hanging around Henry. If Bendy wasn't going to tell him what happened, though, how could he save him?

There had been two paths ahead. After delivering the final blow to a fallen plank, the axe broke. Henry discarded the now useless hilt and took the most straightforward path. The hall was flooded, sure, but it wasn't like he hadn't waded in the ink before.

The ink splashed up around him, shadows practically exploding onto the walls. Bendy rose up from the ink; Henry finally seeing the demon in his full form. He hissed loudly at Henry, hunching over like he was going to attack. There had only been a second for Henry to process what was going on.

Henry turned and ran. His gut instinct told him that Bendy was beyond reason right now.  _Just run!_

He headed towards the nearest open door, having mere seconds to block it. A pound on the door caused it to shudder. Henry could have sworn he heard nails raking down the wood, partnered with the demon's strange deep-yet-light voice, "Let me in!"

"Only if you promise you won't kill me!"

The clawing stopped, though more because it had sounded like Bendy had left, not because he actually wanted to calm down and talk. Henry sighed.

"Who's next to save?"


	4. Little Red Riding Hood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bendy may not be helping Henry as much as he'd hoped, but perhaps a certain, friendly wolf will?

Henry progressed, mind reeling. The tape recordings were leading him in the right direction before, story wise, but now he had nothing. Just a hall with locked doors and no writing on the walls to give any clues either. A can of bacon soup rolled out from around the corner.

"Hello? I know you're there. Show yourself."

Henry braced himself for another hostile. The footsteps approached and a familiar wolf emerged now, much to Henry's surprise.

"Boris?"

The wolf nodded and then motioned for Henry to follow. He led all the way to a secluded area. It was well lit and appeared to be almost like a home or safe room. It must've been where Boris lived.

It certainly did feel safe; like it had been completely untouched by Bendy or any other ink creature, save for Boris himself. The toon wolf sat at the nearby table and Henry across from him.

"Maybe you can help me. I want to help everyone, but I don't even know the full story."

Boris shook his head and made a gesture to his throat. He then motioned towards his mouth. Henry nodded, understanding.

"Can't speak?" he sighed, "That seems to be my luck today."

At this point, Henry really didn't know what to make of anything. He went into this mess, thinking that Joey just wanted him to find some old tape reels and just see how far Joey Drew Studios had become after Henry had left.

Now? Now he wasn't so sure why Joey had wanted him to come. Surely Joey knew what became of the others, why leave out what happened to everyone? There had been some letters pinned to the cork-board from Wally, Thomas, and Allison, but Sammy? Norman? Even Susie? They had been absent from it. Henry now knew Sammy was trapped in the studio; what if the others were too?

Or was this some kind of guilt trip? Because it had been working. In the last few hours of Henry's working for the company, Bendy had grown extremely attached. Bendy didn't leave Henry's side other than to play little pranks on people. Did him leaving cause the little devil so much heartache that he grew cold and heartless? He hoped that wasn't the case. Henry didn't leave to hurt Bendy or the studio.

Given everything he'd seen thus far, he couldn't agree with staying. Satanic circles, apparently a one, possibly more, man cult, demons and monsters... He idly started dealing cards from a nearby deck to play and pass the time.

"How long have things been like this?"

Boris only shrugged. Henry didn't bring up the fact that he'd seen him dead earlier. He didn't want to do something that would wind up making him hostile. Although, seeing Boris alive now did give some hope that, if Bendy had killed Sammy, he'd have a second chance to save the musician. Henry had been in a bit of a rush to get away to really be able to check if Sammy was alive.

"Is Bendy the one behind all of this?"

Boris made a motion with his hand, as if to say 'sort of.'

"It's because of me, isn't it?"

He shook his head.

"I'm the creator, though. You, Bendy, and Alice...  _I_ created you guys."

Boris forced Henry to put his hand down, shaking his head again. He really wasn't sure how to say 'You didn't give us life' by just gesturing and he didn't have any way to write to Henry. Not that Henry'd be able to read his chicken-scratch handwriting.

"I should've stayed... I... Maybe it would've kept all of this from happening."

Henry could feel tears stinging his eyes. He felt like this was all his fault. He gave his creations over to Joey and now one of them was on a rampage. Most of his coworkers were missing, most likely caught in the cross-hair of a demon who felt abandoned and hated. What else was he supposed to think?

Boris pulled Henry to his feet and led him to a bedroom looking area. He started to set up a cot for him. Henry only watched, confused and upset. When done, Boris motioned for Henry to sleep.

This caused him to chuckle a bit, "I suppose you're right. I should try to get some sleep."

He climbed into the cot and got comfortable. Boris left the room, shutting the door behind him. With that, Henry tried to get rest.

Unfortunately, it was only for a few hours. He'd have nightmares about Bendy; about not being able to save who needed to be trapped in the studio. He pushed himself out of bed and headed back to the main room. There just wasn't time to keep hanging around.

After making some soup for Boris, he was able to leave. Why Boris took the lever entirely was beyond him; unless it was a way to keep Bendy out. Boris decided to tag along. Henry certainly wasn't going to object to it. Even if it was silent company, it was still just that; company.

He needed to come up with a plan. Resting had helped a bit to clear his mind. Thankfully, Boris didn't seem to need to be saved, so he didn't need to worry about him. If all of his thoughts were correct, then he only needed to reason with Bendy and possibly save Sammy if it was still possible to. At least... that's all that it seemed like. If Alice was real, she was an angel. Angels and demons rarely interacted.

It seemed like reasoning with Bendy would've fixed everything. This felt like a world he'd try to create so he'd have things to pranks. At the same time, would convincing Bendy to release everyone kill Boris? This Boris was a clone, as far as he knew. What would've happened if Bendy let everyone free? Would the characters who had previously died, die again? Or would they be safe? It only further fueled this itch Henry seemed to have to try and save everyone he could.

He silently made his way through the Heavenly Toys factory, trying to come up with a plan. He just needed to get Bendy on his level so that he wouldn't attempt to kill him.

He came to a room completely dedicated to Alice Angel. Something didn't feel right. When Alice actually showed up, shattering the glass before him, he couldn't believe how she had looked. Why did she look like that...  _creature?_ And the door behind her. The star didn't say 'Susie Campbell.'

It said 'Alice Angel.'


	5. Want To Make A Deal?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boris being mute didn't exactly help out in Henry's quest. This leaves the angel of everyone's nightmares as his last line of hope to find out what really happened at the studio. Will she deliver the news, though?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're vastly deviating from the in-game script now, mainly because I didn't have access to the script for chapter three, as I wrote the majority of the first draft while I was on lunch breaks at work. The other reason is I want to start changing the dynamic up as Henry starts getting more and more of the story.

An angel scorned and forgotten...

He had hated to admit it, but Henry knew Alice wasn't going to be nearly as popular as Bendy and Boris had been. She had been created to try to appeal towards young girls, but, given the 1930's, though, it wasn't exactly "lady like" for young girls to be sitting in front of the television watching cartoons. It was considered lazy and women weren't to be lazy. It was unattractive to men.

If he'd stayed with the company, Henry would have tried his hardest to keep Alice on as a reoccurring character. She had only aired in a couple of cartoons, her character ultimately being retired well before Joey Drew Studios closed up their doors. Yes, Susie probably would have needed to take on more roles as background and unnamed characters again, but that could have been a win-win for both her and Sammy. The man was completely infatuated with the girl; be it because of her, herself, or simply her rather angelic voice, but Susie certainly liked the attention.

Whatever had happened, though, caused  _this_. Susie had been a bit of an odd girl, for sure, but there was no way she'd go to such an extent to  _actually_ become Alice... right? From the recordings, she referred to the angel as her own being, but never really mentioned her as an actual person. Just a dreamer of a girl with an overactive imagination, there was nothing wrong with that. Joey had certainly embraced it, so everything was fine.

Henry approached a crossroad, the sign giving him a thought. Both signs for the paths were on the same post; the more crude handwriting for "The Demon" sitting next to the much more flowy "The Angel... Had Bendy and Alice written these themselves? Did they happen to take residence in these rooms before whatever events caused the ultimate demise of the studio? Henry had always wanted them to have that frenemies dynamic in the cartoons when the two had finally crossed, but it had never gotten to happen. Perhaps it still did, just in real life.

He took the path of the demon, hoping it would only further appease Bendy. Alice was an angel, she had to have been easy enough to reason with. Bendy was the main goal, since he appeared to be the cause of the issues at hand.

Despite his choice in path, Alice seemed rather impressed by Henry. There was something about the tone in her voice... rather voice _s_ , that didn't sit well with him, though. It sounded sarcastic, no matter which one you focused on. It made him feel small. The elevator descended, giving glimpses of each level, as well as rather mangled up creatures. They looked, albeit extremely vague, like the characters from a poster he had seen earlier for a Bendy episode called "The Butcher Gang". Under the poster had been written "You're welcome" in the same crude handwriting that the demon sign had been written in.

You're welcome, but for what? There hadn't been any time for Henry to think about it, though. If the handwriting was Bendy's, perhaps he was watching and prevented something from attacking him there.

"Step out of your cage... there's a whole twisted world out there..."

Well, she hadn't been wrong. She allowed Henry and Boris through to her sanctuary. The very first room was an ink monster's nightmare. Strapped down corpses were all about a pool of ink, only planks of wood allowed any sort of path across. The corpses had been clones of Boris as well as those twisted form of The Butcher Gang. Alice had been talking, but Henry had toned it out; shocked at the sight before him. This wasn't the work of an angel. There was no way...

"I had to do it... she made me..."

"She? Who?"

Alice hadn't responded, though. She hadn't heard. Henry found another recording. This one was of Susie talking about a lunch date with Joey.

"He even called me Alice...  _I liked it..._ "

Perhaps Susie  _had_ let the role et to her. Then again, if Joey had successfully made Bendy and Boris, who's to say he didn't make Alice and that Butcher Gang? Boris was normal, though... and Bendy had started off normal as well. Did Alice and the trio start normal and have something happen too, or were they corrupted right off the bat?

Henry made his way to Alice's sanctum. She had been torturing one of those gang members.

"Alice..."

She eyed Henry, stopping the electricity that coarsed through the... man's? body. He really wasn't sure what it was. It looked like some sort of cross between human and animal.

"Now, you and I both know that this isn't how an angel acts," Henry scolded. He realized at that moment how much of a parent he had sounded. That felt... weird.

A moment of conflict crossed Alice's face. She furrowed her brow and shook her head, "It wandered into  _my_ halls, spreading its  _tainted ink_... threatening to pull me back!"

"Talk to me Alice. I want to help, but I need to know what happened."

"The ink demon..." her voice had been threatening.

"Bendy? What happened? What did he do?"

It was clear that Alice was in some sort of internal conflict; like there was two or more personalities fighting for control. She breathed out, keeping a cautious eye on Henry.

He returned the look, keeping his body language soft. He didn't want to give Alice too much control, yet just enough where she didn't feel threatened.

"How about this..." she purred, a smirk teasing at her lip, "You run some eensy weensy little tasks for me and I'll give you everything you need."

"That's fine. I can do that."

She motioned towards the door, silently telling him to leave. He complied; after all, it was only a few tasks. How hard could they be?


	6. The Death Of The Cog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to start doing some tasks for backstories...

The first task was to collect gears from Heavenly Toys. That seemed simple enough. He returned to the elevator, pressing the button and giving a sign. Henry looked to Boris, "Just a few tasks and she said she'd give me the story."

Boris looked at him and nodded.

"You think she'll give me the full story? It sounds like there's some bad blood between the two."

The wolf shrugged, not really knowing himself.

The elevator stopped and the doors shuttered opened. Henry stepped out and the doors slammed shut behind him. He looked back to Boris; at least he was safe.

There had been a few of those searcher creatures wandering about, but things seemed a lot different than before. Most of them didn't seem to even care that he was around. Ones that did mind and charged would stop short and flinch back. At one point, Henry turned around to see why they'd back off.

Henry would only ever catch what appeared to be shadows fading from the wall behind him. At one point, he put his hand on the wall. The inky blackness quickly pulled away from his hand.

"Bendy? Are you helping me, buddy?"

The shadows didn't completely pull away, but there wasn't a response.

"Well... thank you. I want to save you guys. I  _want_  to know the full story."

The shadows swirled around Henry's hand, though never touched it. Then it completely faded away.

Henry couldn't help but smile. Despite everything Bendy had gone through, he still seemed to have a scrap of trust in him. If those searchers were going to be around, Bendy keeping them at bay was going to help him immensely.

It had made collecting most of the gears rather easy. He really didn't know how many of these Alice needed, so he just grabbed all of what he could find.

Help with The Butcher Gang, however, was a different story. The one Alice had been torturing before was hopping towards him, pipe raised up like he was going to attack.

"Hey, hey! I'm not going to hurt you," Henry put his hands up, keeping his fingers light around the wrench he'd been holding. He didn't want to drop that if things went sour. The thing didn't seem to react or care, though. It made nothing more than gross throat and mouth noises as it advanced.

Henry leaped back from a swing, keeping his eyes on what it was going to do next.

"Bendy, I really could use your help right now..."

Although shadows did consume the room, the Ink Demon decided against making an appearance. It left Henry with only one other option. He escaped into a Little Miracle Station. The Piper looked defeated and slowly hopped away. It couldn't open doors.

When it was far enough away, the shadows also crept off, and Henry was free to leave the hiding closet. These ones didn't seem frightened or threatened by Bendy. That was a bit worrisome. It meant he didn't know how he could reform these creatures.

That's just because he didn't know these characters. At least he knew Bendy, Boris, and Alice. If he had to take a guess? They were probably created to further challenge Bendy in his more mischievous episodes or perhaps even to be a sort of a bully or tormentor to the little devil.

If that had been the case, though, Henry was surprised Bendy would have wanted them saved. With what Bendy was going through now; the apparent betrayal from long ago... Everything just had too many holes or not enough information to really piece together just yet.

Henry found the last gear and returned to the lift to get his next task. He wasn't exactly sure what he was gathering these items for. He hadn't seen any sort of machine for these types of gears to be used in... Unless she'd be using them for that torture device she was using on that Piper. That would've made him angry. He wanted to help, but not help people hurt others.

After placing the wrench and gears in the collection bin, Alice started speaking.

"Not long after you had left, Boris and myself had been created. Bendy had been completely devastated when you left, so having us for company seemed to help him. And for a while, it had worked! He got back up to his usual tricks. We all learned how to communicate with one another silently, as we were all mute. One day, though... Those GENT employees started showing up with that new ink machine. They took Bendy first... he was never the same after that."

"What do you mean?" Henry couldn't process what he was feeling at that point. It hurt knowing that he had hurt Bendy, but Joey tried making it better! But then something happened because of that new ink machine. Joey was really starting to look like the bad guy now...


	7. Hitting On All Sevens

Alice quickly changed the subject to the next task. Henry wanted story, she needed things, it was a fair trade. If she gave the full story, who's to say Henry would keep helping once he got what he wanted. The weapon dispenser's door shifted open, revealing a large syringe.

"No, Alice! I'm not hurting anyone! There has to be something else!"

"Well then, you're going to have some fun trying to figure out how to save them, aren't you?" The taunting in her voice was sickening. It was hard to believe that this was Alice talking; she was supposed to be just as she was, an angel. A stereotypical one at that; one of those goodie-goodies that did no harm.

Henry sighed, looking at the needle at the end of the syringe. It was fairly large, most likely a 12 gauge; needing to get one of these ones had to have hurt as a human. If those creatures felt pain, he'd never forgive himself. He already took down enough of them.

He made his was to the elevator once more. Boris eyed the needle warily. Henry gave a knowing sigh, "I know, buddy. I'm trying to think of a way to do this without hurting anyone."

Boris made a face; he knew, but didn't know how to say it. He had been the unlucky one to never get a voice. The elevator gave a shudder in stopping and Henry stepped out. He had no time for rest, however. Another one of those Butcher Gang goons already spotted him. This one had a bit of a reach, making it impossible for Henry to be able to just push it back. He ran past, finding another Little Miracle Station.

It was quick inside and the Striker backed off, though patrolled the immediate area. That was going to make things more difficult. It knew where Henry was, but, for whatever reason, they just couldn't open doors. He watched it as it made its rounds, trying his hardest to only mentally cringe at the noises it made. Thankfully this one the noises were drowned out a bit by the chattering teeth on top of its head. This one must've been that spider one from the poster. Out of the two he'd seen so far, Henry didn't know which one was worse. Probably this one.

A large blob of ink sprung up into Henry's view. This had to have been the searcher that Alice was talking about. It looked a bit like the other one from the sewer, just without a hat. Now that it was there, it was a matter of getting ink from it.

Well... the object he had this time was a syringe; but he also knew these monsters' bodies were weak. Too much force and it would melt back into a puddle; yet too little force and it might run away. All he could do was try.

He quietly slipped out of hiding and readied the needle. With a little bit of force, he managed to pierce a boil on the searcher's back. It groaned and dropped back into the floorboards, though the inky boil stayed attached to the end of the needle. He quickly sucked it into the chamber and went back into the closet; the Striker had seen him and started to return.

The plan had worked! And he hadn't needed Bendy's help either, that was good. It had been such a relief and it was going to make collecting the rest of the ink so much easier. The only problem was going to be that Striker. If he kept by the Little Miracle Station, it shouldn't have been a problem. He just had to wait a bit longer for the searcher to keep returning to the front of the hide. When the rest of the ink was collected, he made it back to the elevator.

As happy as he was that he didn't need Bendy's help, Henry had been a bit disappointed the ink demon hadn't made an appearance. He'd just have to get more story from Alice. He returned the ink filled syringe.

"Bendy became much more reclusive; hiding in the hallway he had claimed for his room. I was next to be brought to the new machine. It was the first... and last... time I met Susie Campbell."

Henry didn't say anything this time, kind of expecting to have a little bit more to the story. She was deliberately leaving out information, he could tell. She immediately went into the next task. Open panels by turning valves to collect their battery cores. It sounded tedious, but doable.

The dispenser turned revealing... a plunger.

"This is a joke... right? This has to be a joke." It wasn't a funny one.

Alice wouldn't let him leave without it, though. He took it, but only knowing he wasn't going to use it. Now she let him leave.

In the elevator, Henry handed the plunger to Boris, "Here. Use this in case you need it. I'm not using these weapons anyway."

Boris looked at the plunger and then back to Henry.

"Buddy, listen. If anything happens and you feel like you're in danger, I want you to leave. Just run. Even if I'm nowhere to be seen."

Boris shook his head frantically, disagreeing.

"Boris, I'm not going to put you in danger just to further my mission. All of you are important. I want all of you to be safe. If that means you getting to safety without me, then that's how it's going to be."

The elevator stopped, Boris still looking at Henry with sadness. Henry put his hand on the wolf's shoulder, "I have a feeling everything's going to turn out alright."

He gave Boris a reassuring squeeze before heading off. The doors slammed shut behind him. He steeled his nerves and headed onward, prepared for the next Butcher Gang member. This task seemed like it was going to be the most tedious of them all so far...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized while writing this chapter that I believe I messed up which Butcher Gang member was on each level, but I had an idea of how he was going to actually meet each one; this was the chapter in the game that I replayed the most, but I was more focused on doing the tommy gun run rather than what characters were on each level.


	8. One Foot In Front Of The Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looking for those valve cores is pretty difficult when you decide to give your only mean of defense away. And when there’s no guarantee that the demon is always willing to help you.

Henry slowly made his way towards what appeasers to be an office area. He really couldn’t figure out how to describe it other than that; there were desks in glass separated rooms, but some rooms also had tables. He could see something wandering about the rooms, most likely another Butcher Gang member. 

Quietly, he made his way through the halls. They were narrow; so it would be quite difficult to get around anything that may pop up. At least it only seemed to be the one. He found a valve panel. It seemed pretty straightforward.

He turned the valves, needing to keep his attention on the ink levels in the cores, but listening for anything wandering about. Once the ink was leveled, the hatch to the side popped open and Henry grabbed the power core. Afterwards, he ran.

That  _thing_ was getting close. He ran to the nearby Little Miracle Station and slipped inside; finally getting a good look at the living cartoon. This one was the most horrific out of the three. Its head was dangling about on a pole and string, bobbing about as it walked away. At least the other two were mostly intact.

When Fisher finally wandered off, Henry was able to wander about freely again. He found his way to another recording of Wally Franks; the young janitor from Brooklyn. He had been carrying on about how miserable everyone looked. He did have a point, though Henry could hear the ink machine faintly running in the background.

As sad as it was to say, that blasted machine was the reason why he had left. He had loved his job, but things changed after it had been created. Joey’s ambitions grew more and more and Henry had certainly seen it; but this had been the price.

Monsters and demons wandering about something that had once brought so many people delight... it was a nightmare now. It brought back thoughts of Bendy and the rest of the cartoons. They had been forced to be in this world and now knowing that something bad happened to them because of somebody else; it had hurt.

Henry pressed onward down the adjacent hall, stopping dead in his tracks. Another monster skulked through the waiting room, a familiar clicking sounding just over its heavy footsteps. This one has a projector for a head. It didn’t seem to affect its vision as it wandered away to a hidden door. Once he’d been sure the monster was gone, Henry snuck into the room.

Somehow, it had passed through one of the heavy gates. Well... all of the creatures here were made of ink; perhaps it has just slipped through the cracks. There had been nothing else of interest in this room. He headed back to his task, mind reeling.

More and more creatures were showing up the deeper he went down this rabbit hole called Joey Drew Studios. And all Henry knew was that all signs were pointing to Joey being the culprit behind all of it.

The routine was the same, turn the valves, collect the power core, hide. There were a few moments that Fisher was able to connect a few hits. At one point, after having collected all of the cores, Henry managed to grab ahold of the pole that Fisher’s rope had been attached to and guided it around him, avoiding another strike.

”I don’t want to fight you,” his voice had been somewhat forceful, trying to keep the monster subdued by nothing more than the pole protruding from its neck. It only made mouth noises in response, Henry unable to figure out if they were hostile or friendly. He whipped the pole back, knocking the Fisher to the floor, allowing for a chance for him to run.

When he’d made it to the elevator shaft, he’d found that the elevator was gone. He called for it, but it didn’t run. He sighed, “Guess I’m taking the stairs.”

With that, Henry started down the stairs. It was going to be a long descent down. Step by step, his footsteps echoed in the corridor. He found instruments on one floor. He played a chord on each instrument, just wanting to hear _something_ other than his footsteps.

“We’ve all been waiting... But now... He will set... Us... Free...”

The familiar silvery voice echoed through the room and Henry bolted down the remaining stairs. Something happened to Sammy because of Henry, he’d hate to know what such an unstable man may do to him.

His chest heaved once he made it to Level 9, resting his hands on his knees as he tried catching his breath. Boris quickly trotted up to him, putting his hand on Henry’s back. The brunet laughed a bit hoarsely, “That Butcher Gang guy come after you?”

Boris shook his head, playing with his ears, making them look like horns.

”Bendy?”

A nod.

”Hopefully I can talk to him directly soon. Get all of this fixed...”

Henry straightened back up and gave Alice the power cores. She continued with the story.

”Bendy lost it completely after I had returned. Boris never got the chance to go back to the machine. Few managed to escape. He wasn’t the same little prankster anymore. He was a monster that showed no mercy to anyone... not even his friends.”

That didn’t seem right. Bendy had quite a few chances to kill him, but he hadn’t. Alice and Boris were still alive; or at least as alive as the toons could be. Even if these were different renditions from the originals, if Bendy was controlling the ink, then he was obviously bringing them back every time they died.

”Well then... what’s my next task?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a fairly long writer’s block, getting extremely busy with work, and carefully deliberating with myself on the fate of the comments section, I’m back to this story finally. Please remember to be respectful in your criticism and understand that I won’t be doing heavy research on things that have no bearing on the plot. Thank you for understanding.


	9. Liar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice is forcing some setbacks in the little progress Henry had made with Bendy. Will he be able to recover from it?

 “You’ve seen them, haven’t you?  _Those grinning demons,”_ Henry hadn’t liked the vehement tone in her voice, “Let’s take care of them, shall we?”

The weapon delivery tube opened, revealing an axe. Henry shook his head, “No, Alice, no! I’m trying to stay on his good side, not get myself killed!”

”It’s not like he doesn’t rebuild them once you turn your back; they’re just wooden cutouts,” her voice had been been so dismissive; it was clear she just didn’t care. Henry cautiously took the axe, “I’m not so sure about this...”

”Do you want your help?”

Henry scowled, making his way back to the elevator. He’d been extremely aware of the weight of it; simply holding it made him feel uneasy. Boris eyed the axe as well.

”Something tells me Bendy’s not going to be happy once this task is all done,” Henry sighed, watching each level pass by as they ascended back to Level K. There appeared to be fewer inky monsters roaming about the lower levels, though familiar shadows crept along the walls of Level P. Boris ducked down, almost as if he were going to go into the fetal position; not setting until the elevator was stopped. Henry put his hand on Boris’ shoulder, “Go back to Level 9, you’ll be safer there.”

Boris desperately tried signing to him, though Henry shook his head, “I get it, but if this is what I have to do, then I have to do it. I can only hope Bendy will forgive me once everything’s said and done. I don’t  _want_ to do it, but I have to.”

Stepping off the elevator, Henry was quick to close the cage around it, “Go, Boris.”

He turned towards the stairs, seeing one of the cutouts behind a hollowed out corner. The axe had felt so natural to swing, though something didn’t feel right when the blade made contact with the wood. The cut out looked more like it exploded rather than had a clean cut through it. He went to touch one of the broken pieces when shadows burst through the room. Henry practically vaulted over the stairs, rushing towards the Little Miracle Station.

Almost as soon as he had gotten the door shut, he could see Bendy slowly limping his way towards the broken cut out. He covered his mouth, feeling tears stinging at the corners of his eyes. He didn’t want to believe that that creature that had chased him in the beginning of this entire journey was actually Bendy; but it was.

There was just something so vaguely  _human_ about it all. Not because of his morbidly emaciated body, but the cause behind it all. Bendy himself was a demon, but the reason he looked and felt the way he did... why  _everyone_ who had been trapped in the studio did... was human. And all of the arrows pointed at Joey.

Bendy stopped on the staircase, looking down at the broken cutout. His head quickly snapped around towards the Little Miracle Station, that low voice sounding once more, the lone word spoken drug out so much longer than what felt comfortable, “Allliiiiceee.”

Henry held his breath. If Bendy thought it was Alice breaking them, that wouldn’t be a problem. He could keep trying to build up on trying to help Bendy. He watched the demon carefully, more specifically his mouth. The now permanent grin jittered about what was visible under the ink. When he was that little toon, his had been so much more expressive. It was impossible now to figure out what he was thinking; what he was feeling.

Bendy never approached the Station, much to Henry’s relief; slipping away into a portal created on the wall. The shadows left quickly after. Henry left the station and pressed on. What else could he do? The cut outs were almost too easy to find. Each one, he had to rush to a Little Miracle Station afterwards; as Bendy followed shortly after. It wasn’t until after the cutouts in Bendy’s specific hall had been destroyed that the demon realized who was doing this.

The last cut out was destroyed; Henry didn’t even think twice about getting into the nearby hiding hole. It was natural at this point, so much that he had even ignored Alice telling him to hide.

”Hen... ryyyyyy...” Bendy’s voice growled dangerously close to the Station. He had to suppress a gasp, watching Bendy’s form writhe in each step forward. He didn’t even bother looking at the cut outs now, skulking through the stuffed animal filled room. Bendy was intentionally walking slower than usual. He  _knew_ Henry was there and he wasn’t happy. It could be heard in the growls.

It was the heartbeats that sickened Henry, though. No one’s heart beat that loudly. Couple it with the aggravated growling and the wet sounding steps the ink demon made, it was just a perfect combination.

Henry curled up into a ball inside the station, cramming himself as much in the corner as possible and finally broke down; trying to keep his sobs quiet. As much as he knew now that this was Joey’s fault, he still felt like it was his. If **he’d** stayed with the studio, **he** could have stopped Joey from making this worse. If **he** took the little ink demon with him, maybe Bendy would’ve never become this monster. If **he** kept the rights to Bendy, Boris, and Alice, all of this could have been prevented. This was **his** fault.  **He** let this happen.

Now Bendy was personally seeking him out, all for some story that he could have just steeled his own nerves and tried to approach the demon directly. Bendy was angry; angrier than when Henry had first encountered him. Henry didn’t even know if the story that Alice was giving his was true. What could he do now, though? He went into that rabbit hole and now he was paying for chasing it.

Once he’d calmed himself enough, Henry carefully slipped out of the station behind Bendy’s patrol. He kept enough distance between himself and the ink demon, so his footsteps couldn’t have been heard. He bolted for the elevator once more, running faster than he’s ever ran before. He just wanted to avoid Bendy before he realized that he was out of the station.

Right as he was getting to the stairs back to the elevator, he could hear a scream and wet thumps of Bendy running towards him. Thankfully Boris never left the level and Henry was able to use that little nook from the first cut out to get into the elevator and close the gates. Bendy paces outside of the gates; despite his eyes not being visible, Henry could _feel_ the glare.

”I didn’t want to do it, Bendy! I just want to get home! I _need_ to get home...” Just how long had he actually been in the studio now? His wife must’ve been worried sick about him.

Bendy smashed his gloved hand against the gate, causing both Henry and Boris to flinch back. He laced the fingers from his more human hand between the grates, his eyeless gaze never leaving Henry.

” **Liar!** ” Bendy’s voice was loud, though it was hard to actually tell the emotion that was in it. While it had sounded like hatred, there was that undertone in it... he sounded like he’d just been betrayed.

”I’m not lying to you Bendy,” Henry tried his hardest to put on that ‘dad’ front again; it had seemed to work once before, “I wouldn’t lie to you. I _want_ to get to the bottom of this. I know that this was my fault. You shouldn’t be like this. None of you should be. I left you with Joey, I shouldn’t have done that. I should have seen what was going on. I want to make this right.”

”You made your choice.”

Hearing Bendy speak hurt. That betrayed tone was much more noticeable now. Bendy removed himself from the elevator gates and walked away before Henry could even respond. Henry pressed the button to be brought back to Level 9, his shoulders dropped. He was going to fix this one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being patient with me while I’m going through this point in my life. I am currently in the process of moving, but I’m hoping that once we’re all settled into the apartment and have internet running, I should be able to get back to consistent posting. I’m going to try to stockpile chapters, this way, once I get everything completely packed up, including my tablet and computer, I can just log on through my phone and post, since I don’t know how long we won’t have internet for.


	10. Good Little Dictation Machines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the second monster that lives in the studio is going to be fun... right?

Henry made his way back to Alice’s door once more. He yelled at Alice as he returned the axe, “Thanks a lot! I had made it somewhere with Bendy and now he wants to kill me!”

Alice didn’t grace him with a response. She didn’t have the time to; there were more important things for her to attend to.

“I do hate leaving things unfinished. I’m sending you deeper down, Henry,” her voice seemed a bit more melodic, “To collect just one more item for me.”

”No! No more! Bendy’s already angry enough with me and I can’t even trust your story is true!”

Alice gave a soft ‘tsk’, not showing much interest in Henry’s problems, “Why don’t you go visit an old friend? Here, I’ll even give to you a little extra firepower.”

Henry watched the weapons dispenser turn to reveal... a tommy gun? He immediately put his hands up, “I’m _not_ taking that! I’ll do your task, just _stop_ trying to make me hurt others.”

The gate never opened, though. Alice wanted him to take the gun. He had no need for it; just as was the case with the rest of the weapons. They were inconveniences at best. Giving an aggravated huff, Henry went to grab the gun, but it melted into ink in his hands.

”Oops, I forgot,” the purr in her voice was otherwise, “It’s a little hard to get a hold of. Better luck next time.”

Now the gate opened. Henry let out an aggravated sigh and rolled his shoulders. His muscles were tight at this point, so much had gone on in the god knew how long he had actually been down in the studio. The most ‘real sleep’ he had gotten was in a cot; he was getting too old to be sleeping in those things.

Closing the elevator gates behind him, Henry hit the only button that was left; Level 14. The elevator headed down. Boris whined softly, the first noise he’d made since Henry meeting him. Henry could only give him a reassuring nod, “It’ll be OK. I’m not sure exactly what I need to be getting, but I’ll do it...” He could barely utter out, “Somehow.”

He wasn’t going to have Bendy’s help this time. That bridge was burned and he had no idea what could possibly be lurking below. Most of the studio had still been flooded; this part being no different. The ink had been hard enough to walk in and this looked deep. The elevator stopped, gate opening. Carefully, Henry made his way to the railing, looking out to the flooded floors below.

Some say that the silence can be just as loud as noise, but saying that felt like an understatement. The unease that the silence brought, hearing his own heartbeat; nothing about this felt right. He headed right towards the stairs; finding the body of a dead Striker holding a heart. Henry couldn’t help but grimace, but picked up the heart. Something in his own heart told him that this was what Alice wanted. Talk about giving your heart to somebody.

Making his way down the first flight of stairs, Alice’s voice could be heard over the speakers... or was it in his head? He really couldn’t even tell anymore, since the familiar skulking monster didn’t seem to respond to Alice, “There he is, The Projectionist... Skulking around in the shadows...”

Henry toned out Alice as he watched the projector-headed man slowly make his way through the ink below. The light emitted from the lens bobbed as he walked; that familiar clicking from before filling the silence now. It was almost sad, the noise gave Henry comfort; even if that noise did signify danger. He found another set of stairs, one that led into the ink, and headed down.

The only logical thing to do felt like following The Projectionist behind, keeping just out of earshot. Could he even hear anything? Henry made note of every single Little Miracle Station as he followed; a heart had to have been nearby. It seemed straightforward enough; it was just a matter of figuring out if Projectionist could hear or see.

As he followed, Henry saw the running projections, all from the cartoon that ended the studio as he had known. Tombstone Picnic. There was something about the release of that final cartoon; it hadn’t even been released finished. Joey had said Norman never actually finished the job, fixing the reel after it had broken, but had that really been the truth?

Whatever the case may be, he needed to focus on the task at hand. Not dying. He didn’t care about the hearts, he cared about his live; getting home to his wife. That was the most important thing. Next was at least attempting to soothe the beast that Bendy had become. It would’ve made the lives of those who were trapped here more bearable and gave closure.

Giving a heavy breath, Henry slipped into the first station, waiting until he could no longer hear The Projectionist before popping back out and getting the heart. A screech echoed through the tunnels, causing Henry to run back to the station. It was only seconds after that he hear the ink sloshing around the object-head’s legs as he made his run towards where the heart used to be. He looked around, though slowly went skulking away.

The pattern was easy enough, hide, wait, get the heart, hide, repeat. There always seemed to be a pattern. Projectionist’s actions never seemed to reflect anger that the hearts were being taken, but fear. He didn’t look specifically for anyone who took the hearts, but the hearts themselves. He was protecting them. Guilt washed over the ex-animator.

It wasn’t exactly like he could just return without them, though. Alice wouldn’t have let him leave. She was demanding things that went against everything that he believed in. It left him torn; try to befriend this monster or continue the journey to help Alice...

Everything went still once more, the only sounds being heard was the projectors playing the shorts. Stepping out of the station, Henry grabbed the final heart. He made a run for the stairs, hearing only the ink around his own legs, as well as the fast approaching Projectionist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intentionally left the fight scene when The Butcher Gang enters Level 9 out; it wasn’t a mistake.
> 
> (This part of the note will be deleted after the next part is up) This is going to be the last chapter I can provide for at a MINIMUM of a month. I’ll be moving into my new place in seven days and we can’t get any sort of internet set up until we actually get moved in and everything settled. Yeah, I’ll have access to the internet, but it’ll be my roommate’s dad’s. I don’t want to run up his bill/throttle his internet, so unless I get a chapter finished before we get online (which won’t be likely given first time ever move and we won’t have everything right away), I hope this chapter will do! Thank you, each and every one of you for your reads and support.


	11. Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He may look like a monster, but is he really one?

A heavy blow knocked Henry off his feet, tossing him off to the side and into a nearby crate. The crate collapsed beneath his weight; ink splashing around everything that had shifted in the impact. Projectionist towered over Henry, the flickering light coming from his face blinding the man cowering beneath him.

His fists had been clenched, though not tightly. His gaze almost seemed to be more on the hearts that were floating around Henry. Henry put his hands up, hoping this monster had any semblance of vision to see that he had no weapons. “I had to do this, please,” he kept his voice calm, trying his hardest in doing so.

A heart that had been floating in the ink drifted over towards Projectionist’s leg, lightly bouncing against it. Projectionist shifted his leg, pushing the heart away from Henry. Carefully, the old animator pushed himself to his feet, though it caused Projectionist to stand more defensively. Henry kept his hands in view, “Easy... I need that back. Please.”

Projectionist shook his head, taking a step forward and crouched down slightly; reaching for more hearts. “I can’t leave without them. I’ll be out of your lair, I just need these.”

This caused Projectionist to screech at him, knocking him back into the ink. Henry groaned, rubbing his chest where the ink monster’s fist had connected. He touched Projectionist’s arm, “Please, I need to go home. I know you understand.”

Projectionist pushed Henry back once more, his stance much more aggressive now. Henry only kept his hands in view, keeping his own posture more submissive. He probably couldn’t have taken down this creature if he tried, so there was no point in even really attempting to assert too much dominance. Just enough where it was known that he didn’t mean harm, but wasn’t leaving without the hearts.

“Unless there’s some way I can trick Alice with fake hearts long enough to get out of her grasp. I don’t know what she needs these for, but she won’t let me leave unless I have them.”

It seemed like Projectionist was trying to understand what Henry was saying. Rather, he did understand, but Alice getting those hearts may have spelled trouble for others, himself included. It had for previous incarnations of the bodies those hearts belonged to. 

A low static could be heard from the speaker on Projectionist’s chest, though it was the only noise that sounded from it. Although his gaze had been cast towards the hearts that remained floating in the ink, Henry could tell that the gears were turning in his head.

“What do you say? You help me and maybe I can help you. I promised Bendy one way or another I was going to help, even if I can only help a few of who’s down here; it might change his mind after what Alice made me do to him.”

Another shove back. Projectionist hadn’t been particularly pleased about the mention of Bendy. Henry stumbled, though didn’t fall this time, “Is there any way you can tell me what happened? I don’t think Alice’s story was very truthful.”

This received no response. Could he even speak? Perhaps asking him to do so was a bit insensitive. Projectionist skulked back towards the tunnels, though he kept popping his head back around, checking to see if Henry was going to follow or run. Henry followed along, curious.

As he walked along, he looked around at the projections of Tombstone Picnic that had been playing. Some of the images had stopped moving. Projectionist stopped to check the reels and get them running once more.

Projectionist had been fairly meticulous in checking over each projection. He looked at each reel, making sure everything was in working order. As each scene started moving again, the duo would make their way to the back junction of the tunnels. It was oddly calming, seeing this almost seven foot tall monster treat something with such care. It reminded him of Norman. He had been meticulous, though not to Sammy’s level of perfectionism.

“I’m going to take it you have an idea,” Henry looked at Projectionist, squinting when he’d turned around. The projector gave a single nod, allowing Henry to take a single heart. He pulled a reel off of one of the projectors and replaced it with a different once. The particular reel he handed off to Henry was the end of Tombstone Picnic; the ending that it cut off to, that was.

“What’ll this do?” Henry was curious, since Alice didn’t seem to care about whatever actually happened to Bendy. A low growl came from the projector-headed monster, though his body language read more frustration rather than anger. He was trying his hardest to communicate, but it was just about impossible with his speaker barely working. Using it only caused pain.

Projectionist perked slightly, getting an idea. He grew his hand through the ink and wrote on the wall, his handwriting messy and the ink dripping down, _‘Remember’._

“Remember...” Henry looked at the word. “Help her remember... This short, it has something to do with why Bendy’s the way he is, doesn’t it?”

A nod.

“I have an idea. You know about Bendy’s story, right?”

Projectionist made a motion with his hand, giving a ‘more or less’ shake.

“I want to go over the story Alice gave me. Can you just nod or shake your head at what parts are right or wrong?”

He nodded once more. That would’ve been easy enough. Henry started, “She said Bendy was the first to go to the ink machine. He came back as... well, what he is now.”

A shake. Henry nodded now, “Are there parts that are partially true?”

A shrug. “Was he the first?”

A nod. “Was he that... monster... when he came back?”

A shake.

This shocked Henry. Bendy didn’t return that monster right off the bat. Projectionist pointed at the Bendy in the projection, then gave a height, which put the little devil to about Henry’s knees. Henry nodded, “I remember. I was an animator here many years ago.”

Projectionist then raised his hand in height, reaching to about Bendy’s height now. “So, he grew taller when he was brought to the ink machine.”

He then made a motion towards Henry’s face, like he was trying to trace the ink that dripped over Bendy’s face. He then dropped a finger down from the inner corner of Henry’s eye. It clicked, “He’s... crying?”

Projectionist nodded.

“Why is he so violent now?”

His arms went out like wings. Alice. Henry grew to another realization; Alice never finished her story. Now knowing that just the very first part he had been given of Alice’s story was fake, he was glad he didn’t get it. Alice was lying to him... or was it Susie?

“I know you probably won’t know this, but I have to ask. Does the name Susie Campbell sound familiar to you?”

Projectionist nodded.

“Are her and Alice... the same?”

He nodded again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still having issues getting internet, but also having issues with my job, so getting enough money for internet, phone, AND rent is hard, but we’re trying! More of a filler chapter here, but I really can’t do much without it. Cutting it out would’ve still taken a huge chunk from the story I have planned.


	12. Almost Human

Alice and Susie were one in the same!

_That was the first and last time I ever met Susie Campbell._

It made so much more sense now. Henry knew Alice herself wouldn’t be the way she is. Susie, though? After hearing some the the audio logs of her and hearing this corrupted version of the angel speak; it seems like something Susie would do. Sammy seemed to remember who he was. Perhaps this reel would help Susie remember who she is too.

Henry quickly turned with the reel in hand. Projectionist tilted his head, watching the other closely. He was so close to leaving the room they were in when Henry turned back, “Thank you!” 

This brought a light feeling to The Projectionist’s heart. He watched Henry disappear back towards the elevator and then went to collect the five hearts that he had originally been protecting. This area was no longer safe for him or these hearts. He needed to find a new place and fast. 

Meanwhile, Henry was heading back to level 9 with the reel in hand. Boris looked at it, head tilted. Henry patted it, “This might help Alice remember who she is. That Projectionist wasn’t going to give up those hearts she wanted without a fight... which was fine. I didn’t want to fight him. Hopefully this will help.”

Boris looked to Henry, eyes clearly showing worry.

“I know.” Henry was quiet for a moment. He looked at Boris carefully, “Listen. I don’t want you to get hurt if this doesn’t go right. When I leave, go back to your safe house.”

The toon furiously shook his head, not wanting to leave his friend behind.

“Boris, please don’t fight me on this. I think I know what’s wrong with Alice. It’s not her. The person she is clearly won’t hesitate to try to hurt you. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me. Go back to your safe house. 

He made a familiar motion. Horns.

“I don’t think Bendy’s going to hurt you. You were his best friend before whatever happened to him. There’s something inside of him that’s still _Bendy_.”

Boris was unsure as the elevator shuddered to a stop. The gates opened and Henry stepped out. He turned and pressed the button to shut the gates back up, “Go.”

Henry refused to leave until Boris pressed the button back to Heavenly Toys. Once the elevator was completely out of view, Henry made his way to the deposit. Alice’s voice rang through the room, “That doesn’t look like what I asked for. 

Looking up to the giant face that hung over the doors, Henry never broke eye contact with the figure. He slipped the reel into the deposit, “I brought you something better. I know you were lying to me with your story. Tell me, who’s the man at the end of this reel. You should know... Susie.”

There had been a loud clatter from behind the door, either from Alice throwing a minor tantrum or the reel making it to it’s destination. Silence followed after. And it stayed that way. Henry couldn’t even hear any noises from the ink machine, gentle pings from pipe work... nothing.

“Get out.”

The voice was low and nearly inaudible from the speaker. Henry didn’t move, waiting for another response.

“Get out!” Alice practically shrieked over the speakers now, the ground rumbling slightly. Henry shifted his feet slightly to keep his balance. Had that been Alice’s rage or Bendy’s? It was hard to tell anymore...

Turning on his feet, Henry ran for the stairs. He couldn’t risk calling the elevator; not if Boris was still waiting in it. He stumbled up almost every step as the ground shook beneath him. Alice’s voice boomed through the halls.

“First you betray me by choosing _his_ path over mine, then you actively defy me and give me this _filth_! How _dare_ you treat your _angel_ in this way! I was going to give you _everything_! Your freedom! And this is how you treat me?!”

Henry felt the ground give a heavy shudder beneath him and the wood started to split with each step. Shadows never showed up; this was all Alice. He took a step down, his leg falling through the floor. Struggling, Henry could only try to get himself unstuck.

“And, the worst crime of all? _You took away my Boris!_ He was the most perfect Boris I had ever seen! And now he’s gone!”

Alice’s voice ripped through the air, sounding close enough for Henry to panic. As he struggled, he only caused the floor beneath him to collapse more and more until he finally fell through. It had been a long fall; the impact causing him to black out.

When he did finally come around, he found himself at the end of where an elevator should have been. Level S...

Henry cautiously made his way through the hall, finding himself at another sign. One arrow pointed towards the office of a Grant Cohen, the other two arrows towards archives and R&D Access. It was probably best to get away from where Alice may have been; the archives being a safer bet to have more hiding places. As he approached the door, however, it was telling him otherwise.

The valve to open the door was missing. What was it with this place and valves being missing? The only place he _could_ go was Grant’s office. He headed that way, he could only hope that’s where it was. They were always nearby. When he entered the office, however.. 

The clock on the wall ticked by in a room that was practically preserved in time. It had appeared that Grant had gone into a manic fit trying to find all the numbers for taxes owed. The same few words scrawled on the walls...

 

_Time is money._

_Doesn’t add up..._

_$48128 short_

_**Stop the wasters!** _

 

Henry didn’t know Grant Cohen at all, so it was hard to tell just how long these numbers and words had been written on the wall for. Whoever he was, he was supposed to manage money, from what it appeared. How did the studio fall almost fifty-thousand dollars in debt? It was probably the ink machine...

He eyed the cassette player on the desk, worried to even go near it. There was a bubbling pile of ink right next to it, wary that another one of those searcher creatures would form from it. Despite the betrayal Bendy seemed to feel from him having to do Alice’s tasks, he still had yet to see another one.

Carefully, he headed over to player and hit the button. The noises that came from the speakers...

Whoever it was, they sounded like they were in complete agony... like they were transforming... Was that what this ink was? This was Grant Cohen’s office... that gob of ink on the desk. Alice and Susie being the same person...

No! This wasn’t something Henry should have been thinking about. He had already come to the conclusion that Joey was the villain here. He couldn’t draw anything else about it. He had to fix the damage that had been caused. That meant pressing forward. He easily found the valve sitting on the floor and grabbed it, heading back to the door to reattach it. He turned the wheel and the door gave a shudder when it unlocked, slowly opening by itself...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, I’ve finally gotten my hands on the employee handbook; not that that matters because this is an AU of the game, but I can now at least try to get some stuff a little bit more close to the game itself. I don’t have a clue why I didn’t realize sooner that the game takes place locally to me 8)

**Author's Note:**

> All of the chapter titles in this story are song titles! Please feel free to look them up if you're into music!
> 
> And once again, my story is not being written to reflect historical accuracy; thank you for understanding.
> 
> If you want to keep up to date on my life, when I may be posting a new chapter to any story I may write, see some of the art that I make, or even just have a better way to interact with me, please feel free to follow me on Twitter! My username is TrnsltrBentz! I'd love to see you guys there!


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